The Florida Keys may be known for
Key Lime Pie, great fishing, and of course wasting away at the original Margaritaville, but
we found out firsthand an epidemic affecting Key West: THE CHICKENS
Key West was first introduced to
the thanks to backyard birders releasing birds meant for food to the wild. The
criminalization of cockfighting also played a part in the release of the
initial population of chickens. Post their release into the wild these birds
rapidly reproduced as chickens do. Soon they became such a nuisance that in
2004 Key West hired a professional chicken catcher to help eliminate some of
the population. This choice was heavily criticized by locals who found the
chickens to be part of the experience of living and vacationing in Key West. Nowadays
locals can get traps from the town and bring their captured chickens in to be
brought to the farm. This isn’t the farm that ole Lassie went to up North, this
is an Organic Farm. At this farm, chickens are used to handle pests naturally
without pesticides along with fertilizing crops with their feces. Over one
thousand chickens are relocated per year using this method.
The other non-native invasive species found in Key West is
the Green Iguana. Originally from South America, these lizards snuck into the
Keys on cargo ships containing fruit from South America. Here in the Keys
tropical hot environment, these lizards rapidly spread across Key West, with
reptile owners occasionally releasing more into the wild adding to the breed
stock. Reaching up to 5 feet in length, one may be surprised to see one run
down a tree, as we did this Thursday. There is debate as to whether these
lizards are entirely detrimental to the local environment, as they are thought
to add enough “character” to outweigh their potential negative effects. These
negative effects are mainly the iguanas love of native plants and their ability
to decimate them. To combat them, locals can hire exterminators with pellet
guns to take out or relocate these nuisance lizards.
It's interesting that these chickens were just released by people and then they spread like crazy. Yes they are an invasive species but i do feel like they are apart of the area down there and i feel like it is something super cool to see down there.
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